NY S08208

Allows persons convicted of an eligible misdemeanor (excluding felonies and certain serious offenses) to petition the court for expungement of arrest and conviction records if at least 5 years have passed since sentence completion and no offenses have been committed in the last 5 years.

Eligible misdemeanors exclude offenses in specified penal law articles (Articles 120, 130, 135, 150, 235, 245, 260, 263, 265, and 400) and specific crimes including animal cruelty, hate crimes, prostitution, riot, harassment, and surveillance image dissemination.

Courts may expunge records for no more than three prior eligible misdemeanor convictions after verifying criminal history, obtaining documentation of completed sentences, and providing the district attorney and any victims at least 30 days notice to comment on the sealing application.

Court must consider factors including offense severity, defendant's rehabilitation efforts since conviction, criminal history, impact on successful reentry, and victim statements when deciding whether to grant expungement.

Upon expungement, all official records, papers, duplicates and copies relating to arrests, prosecutions and convictions must be removed from availability to any person or agency, though the Division of Criminal Justice Services retains fingerprints, palmprints, photographs and digital images.